Nigerian four travelled on SA documents

FILE PICTURE: The scene of the collapse of the multi-storey guesthouse of The Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos on Friday. Picture: Facebook (Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency)

Four people killed in the Nigerian building collapse were travelling on South African documents, causing confusion about the local death toll, an official said on Monday.

“Initially we were told there were 84 [deaths] but through this rigorous process of identification we have now established four were not South Africans, but they have used South African documents,” acting government spokeswoman Phumla Williams told Sapa.

She said the three Zimbabweans and one Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) citizen all had South African residence permits.

The South African government had been in contact with Zimbabwe and the DRC.

“They have confirmed these are their citizens.”

Williams said the remains of the four people would be brought back from Nigeria with the remains of the South Africans who were killed when the when the multi-storey guest house attached to the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos collapsed on September 12.